Netherlands, an evolving nationwide multimodal ticketing

WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL CHALLENGE? 

In 2001, the Netherlands started to shift from paper tickets to contactless cards to ease mobility and increase the use of public transportation. 
The challenge was to create a nationwide, interoperable fare management system across all modes of transport - metro, train, bus, tramway - while gathering the requirement and wishes  of each public transport operator and at the same time keeping each and every fare rule, either distance-based or zone-based, and with different access thresholds. 

HOW DID WE RESPOND? 

Thales designed and supplied a complete turnkey fare management solution as per ISO standards, including the central clearing house system (CCHS).The solution, based on service-proven open architecture offers nationwide ticketing interoperability, reduces risks and has no supplier lock in.
Through long-term Service Level Agreements with the individual public transport operators , Thales delivered a comprehensive set of maintenance services, including a service desk, first line maintenance, technical support on site, shop repair, hardware and software maintenance and operations management support.

HOW ARE WE EVOLVING THE SOLUTION

In 2018 the technology transition started with pilots to test OVpay. OVpay enables nationwide checking in and out with a bankcard, credit card or phone. This new payment system was implemented for public transport nationwide in the beginning of 2023.
After the first pilots, Thales started the transition to OVpay by replacing hardware components in all check-in gates and validators at the stations and in the buses and trams to make them suitable to read a bank card and make a transaction online. Also, the software in the gates and validators needed to be updated and the security requirements of bank payment systems needed to be included.

THE RESULTS 

Travelers can very easily use the public transport in the Netherlands by paying with their bank card, credit card or phone. The implementation of the revenue collection system (OV-chipkaart) lay the foundation for a nationwide multi-modal ticketing system. This multi-modal ticketing solution delivers significant benefits for transport providers, such as reduced cost of ownership and secured revenues.
 

To find out more about Thales Ground Transportation References